Ko Jin-young promises to showcase long drives in front of her parents

Ko Jin-young will stand on a tee box again after a poor performance. The No. 1 female golfer in the world will compete at the DIO Implant LA Open 2022, which will be held from Thursday (local time) at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, California. Ko took two weeks off by skipping the Lotte Championship last week after the Chevron Championship, the first major tournament of the season held early this month.

Ko showcased great performance by winning four out of six recent tournaments, including the JTBC Classic last month, but she struggled in the Chevron Championship. Her consecutive under-par record for 33 rounds was discontinued as she scored two over par in the first round. She ranked in the 53rd position with a record of even-par 288 at the end. It was her lowest ranking since sharing the 60th place at the Evian Championship in July last year.

“My driving distance wasn’t great at the Chevron Championship,” said Ko during a press conference on Wednesday. “I practiced downswings to gain power by pushing the ground. It is better now.” Ko’s average driving distance is 253 yards this season, which is slightly shorter than her record of 258 yards last year.

Ko pledged to showcase better performance as her parents, who she believes bring good luck, will be at the tournament. She tied for second in 2018 when the tournament was held for the first time. Along with Ko, 21 South Korean golfers, including Park In-bee and Kim Sei-young, will also compete in the tournament.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com